Would you believe me if I told you that this absolute beauty of a chocolate cake only needed fouringredients? It’s also the perfect cake for those who are gluten intolerant or allergic to nuts (or *gasp* both) and it uses minimal butter and sugar. Most importantly, this is one of the best damn chocolate cakes I’ve ever tasted.
I’m not 100% sure who Eve was exactly but damn, do I love her! And gosh, how I love this cake! I knew I had to make it when I perused through Frenchby Bistro Moncur’s Damien Pignolet, and my greedy sugar-deprived eyeballs hit the page. It was adapted from the original recipe by Eve Knottenbelt, author of the 1971 publishedThe Australian Health Food Cookbook. I’m sure he, along with legions of grateful chocolate lovers, are in her debt.
There’s so much to love about this that if it were legal, I’d marry it. It only needs four basic ingredients - eggs, butter, chocolate and a little sugar, which makes this completely gluten-free and nut-free. And when you chill the raw batter, it comes out as an incredibly light and airy mousse. Which means, if there ever was an appropriate time to lick the bowl*, this has to be it. I’ll forgive you if you prefer to take the bowl of batter to a more private place for sexy times but believe me. Bake it. Because the reward is more fabulous. And because you love me and trust me. Plus you can wow at how this airy mousse magically turns into a crumbly cake after a spell in the oven.
*Citrus and Candy would like to proclaim that licking the cake bowl is a perfectly legitimate practice and that one should indulge in this delicious act as often as they want. I.e. ALL THE TIME.
It bakes beautifully and looks perfect when it comes out of the oven. If only I could too. Out of bed of course, not the oven. But the real magic is when it starts to sink and shrink from the sides of the cake pan into a crater. No icing or ganache is needed because the top of the cake then becomes the perfect vessel for you to pour reserved raw cake batter over the top. When chilled, the cake is rich and slightly dense. At room temperature, it becomes light and almost sponge-like. Either way it’s pure poetry when topped with the gorgeous mousse. And to decorate, go nuts with a block of chocolate and an array of weaponry. Big knives on a melted slab for chocolate curls, vege peeler for small curls, a microplane for grated. Hell, if you want to stick that big ol’ block on top of the cake because that’s how you roll, I’m all for it.
Because there is nothing in here to disguise or compete with it, it is essential to use the best spanking quality chocolate you can find. This cake demands it. Nay, it deserves it. And because you baby, are worth it.
This is chocolate cake at its most purest. Now let us all thank the world that we live in a world of desserts. And eggs. And butter and sugar. And puppies. Then go and bake an extra cake and pass it over to me (you know… because I kindly shared it with you and all that).
Eve’s Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
360g bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
50g unsalted butter, softened
12 extra large eggs (65g each), separated
30g caster sugar (for whipping with yolks)
20g caster sugar (for egg whites)
You can also halve this recipe and use a 20cm springform cake tin (but why would you of course, silly me!).
Method
Preheat oven to 150°C. Grease and line a 26-28cm springform cake tin.
In a double boiler over low simmering water, gently melt the chocolate then work in the soft butter.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with 30g caster sugar until pale and thickened. Combine it with the melted chocolate and butter,
In a large, clean and dry bowl, whisk egg whites until stiff but not dry. Add the sugar and beat until stiff peaks.
Beat a quarter of the egg-white mix into the chocolate mix to loosen and mix until combined (no need to be gentle, beat the shit out of it). Add this chocolate mix back into the rest of the egg whites and gently fold until combined.
Spoon out a quarter of the batter into a bowl and dump your face into it refrigerate. Pour the balance into your cake pan and bake for 30-40 minutes. It should remain a little moist in the centre. To test, press your finger into the centre of the cake after 30 minutes. The indentation should remain when you do. I left mine till 35 accidently and it was a little more cooked through than what I would’ve liked. It was still delicious, thanks for asking :)
Remove from oven and turn out directly onto serving plate. Remove the springform ring and base and leave to cool completely. The cake will collapse to leave a crater in the centre. This is the fun part – fill the crater with the reserved cake batter and scatter with chocolate (grated, curls, you decide). Dust lightly with cocoa and serve.
Recipe adapted from French by Damien Pignolet.
{ 50 comments… read them below or add one }
OMG Karen! This loooks to die for! I can't believe there's no flour involved – amazing! Maybe even I could make this?! Hmm.. But I can totally understand the need to get a room with this baby! Woot!!
This cake definately sounds too good to be true! I'm not one to usually lick my bowl clean, raw batter doesn't seem appealing to me but I am guilty of licking my blender and pots while making soup, I mean, it was no chocolate cake but who in their right mind licks the side of a blender and their soup pot? =D
*Drool* Oh dear breakfast bar…
Wow. This looks amazing. I love the idea of a 4 ingredient cake. Simple recipes are the best. Lovely photos too!
ahh karen i love how you make simple things look so elegant. Btw if it were legal, i'd marry many of the cakes and desserts i've sampled too =D
OMG! Looks YUMMY! I will have to make it this weekend – love your writing!
Is it wrong that that “sexy-time” line really stuck out in my head? :P
Great post, as always. Very cute!
How would i figure the ingredients in cups and etc??
Hi Jennifer,
Check out this site http://www.traditionaloven.com/conversions_of_mea…
You can convert metric to imperial measures instantly and you can even calculate sugar, flour, butter etc into cups and sticks. It's brilliant. Hope this helps!
This cake looks so divine. Whoever Eve is, she rocks. I have a friend who is allergic to gluten… so this would be perfect for her. And boy, only 4 ingredients?!!! Can't beat that. Lovely post.
This cake is so delicious! I have been making it for years and it is really special. I originally came across the recipe called Chocolate Mousse cake by Nick Malgieri. Yummy!
Karen, I'm seriously in love with the way you talk about food. You talk about as though it has emotion & feeling, its quite beautiful.
I'm going to try this one day, i've printed it out & I'm going to get my act together & make you proud.
Your pictures are stunning!
Swoon – the pictures are incredible – definitely do justice to the wonderful cake this is!
Hahah theres only 4 ingredients but dangerously high levels of each haha! Eve is genius, this cake looks so seductive
What do you do with the spooned out batter?
I have a much similar recipe from my mother's recipe cards, called “Chocolate Truffle Torte”. Indeed, it's to die for; you feel like eating the whole cake, but it's so rich, that you'll have to make a huge effort to limit yourself to a thin (-ish) slice.
Hi Linda,
The spooned out batter is used to top your cake after it has baked and cooled :)
Thanks! Must have been blind for a second.
Oh yum! This looks delicious
wow, this cake lookd so yummy!
It's heavenly, thanks so much for finding this, Karen! But can you guarantee that our efforts with this cake will be as impressive as yours? I don't think so…
Would anyone be so kind as to translate this into Americanese for me? I stumbled this recipe, and about fell out my chair at the deliciousness pouring from my screen. I'd make this in a heartbeat if grams made sense to my Yankee brain.
Hi Heather,
Check out http://www.traditionaloven.com/conversions_of_mea…
You can convert grams to ounces etc instantly on the site (as well as US cup measures for sugar etc). Hope this helps!
This recipe looks delicious.
“*Citrus and Candy would like to disclaim that licking the cake bowl is a perfectly legitimate practice and that one should indulge in this delicious act as often as they want. I.e. ALL THE TIME.”
A subscript is not necessarily a disclaimer…
dis
Thanks for pointing it out. My bad.
This looks incredible! I'll have to make it for my sister next time she's visiting, she a complete chocoholic so this would be her idea of heaven
Ooohhh, this looks very nice indeed! And only 4 ingredients, you say…
What a beauty! Sadly (to some) I'd have to add a fifth ingredient …. copious amounts of double cream as garnish
Can you imagine have a cake as gorgeous like you named after you?! Lucky Eve! And lucky us for getting you to share the recipe. The pictures are stunning.
Not only does it sound heavenly, it looks like really charmer. i love the lighting in your shots. The moistness of the chocolate really comes out.
mmm delicious!! Ciao Anna from Italy
Such sinful deliciousness without even a grocery shop necessary to put some distance between this cake and myself. Amazing!
Ohh wow how decadent does that look. Again I am reading your blog at the wrong time of the day when I am craving something delicious and of chocolate. You think I would know better by now!!!
NO flour and 4 ingredients? Simple even for a terrible baker like me
WOW, WOW, WOW! Looks incredible and so decadent. I love a good chocolate cake and this looks set to top all i have tried….!
Very cool looking cake. Soooo much chocolate, I swear your veins would be clogged with the stuff after eating to many slices of this.
LOL at the grammar nazi. I want this cake. In my mouth. Om nom nom *buries myself in cake*
Irresistible!! This cake is to die for:)
oooh wow – delicious
i sooo NEED to try this cake.
lovely photos – i really like them too
Betty Bake
This recipe is brilliant – we made it tonight and shared half of it after dinner. The kids decided that it was just a giant OMELETTE and thus healthy, so we finished off the rest and saved room in the fridge. Cheers!
This afternoon I have prepared this cake …. it is delicious! thanks for the recipe!
yum, I love cakes like this one. They know they're indulgent and they don't try to hide it, but they're also not scarily over the top. This looks delicious!
Wowwww this cake is good! I had some for breakfast this morning – truly wonderful stuff. I accidentally halved everything except the sugar, but it still came out fabulously. Thanks for translating and having such helpful instructions. Oh, and stunning photos!
What would be a good quality brand of chocolate to use? Any recommendations?
I'm definitely gonna try baking this cake on the weekend!!
I'm so sorry for the late reply Amanda! Oops! If it helps anyway, a good quality chocolate should be around 60-70% cocoa content. One of the best brands to me is Valrhona but it's awfully expensive so the key is to use the chocolate that you'd love to eat by itself. But the higher the cocoa content, the less sweet it is but the richer the chocolate flavour. Hope this helps! :D
que preciosidad de tarta,,la har
If I decide to bake all the batter, how long should I bake the cake for?
It shouldn't need that much longer of a baking time since it's only a quarter of the batter being reserved. Perhaps check it at the recommended baking time, then continue to check every 5 minutes until it's ready. Hope this helps and sorry for the late reply!
dear… i finally tried this last weekend. finished it ALL in one sitting. even scraping the plate where the majestic cake used to sit (for a while) before it was attacked by all those present. gonna try it again. next weekend. with less people around (which means bigger portions for me) *big smile*
Hehe I love the way you think :D
I'm so happy you enjoyed it!
This cake is fantastic, was a huge hit on the Easter table yesterday!! So easy to make and so tasty!
Hi Emma, brilliant work! Glad you enjoyed it and what a perfect chocolately choice for Easter :D